AFSCME no longer plans to remove the "Contact Us" category from all LaborWeb sites

UPDATE - in the fall we asked all LaborWeb locals to create an "About Local xxx" category because the "Contact Us" feature was planned to be removed on Sep 30.

Many of Council 28 locals did just that, but the Contact Us feature has remained - and now this report from AFSCME - will stay in place.

Consider how you might use "Contact Us" and "About Local XXX" or move your information back to Contact Us.

• We'll take about this at WFSE's Communicators Conference on April 24.  If you missed the registration deadline and still want to attend.  First, get approval from your Local President and then contact Pam Herrick at WFSE HQ at 800-562-6002 right away.

From AFSCME:

AFSCME had considered removing this category as a solution to concerns described below. Many of our local union sites have not added alternative "About Local 123" categories, so we will maintain the "Contact Us" category as is.

If a local union does not have a public address, phone number or e-mail address, consider using the Council's contact information instead in the fields required in the "Contact Us" category.

We still recommend that all administrators of LaborWeb sites build their own "About Us" category. This allows you to customize it as you like. This category can include more robust features, such as articles, photos and hyperlinks, which the "Contact Us" category doesn't allow.

In this category, place content related to these topics (at least):

1. Basic background information: a description of your union and who it represents.

2. Contact Us Data: include at least one way that a web visitor can contact a person in your union. We recommend that all unions secure a public e-mail address for the organization, rather than using personal accounts. G-Mail is one common method for creating free e-mail accounts. Include public mailing address and phone number whenever possible. Include directions or other related information if available.

3. Union Leadership: include elected leaders and staff, if applicable. Include bios and photos if you choose.

4. Optional items: if you have a contract or constitution, you may also want to post those items here.

Here are links to sites with sample “About Us” categories for your consideration:

• Council 4 has a comprehensive “About Council 4” category that is a good sample for affiliates.

• Local 269 has a simple “About Local 269” category that is a good sample for local unions, with the addition of some contact information since all contact information will be removed from the current “Contact Us” category.

CONCERN ABOUT THE "CONTACT US" CATEGORY

The LaborWeb tool requires that we enter a mailing address, phone number and e-mail address for all unions using LaborWeb. This information then automatically populates the “Contact Us” category of public LaborWeb sites and is viewable to all visitors.

Many AFSCME local unions do not have office addresses or phone numbers. Members understandably do not want their home addresses or phone numbers listed publicly on these websites and asked us to solve this problem.

The "Contact Us" category is not customizable, so AFSCME considered the complete removal of the automatically-populated “Contact Us’ category from sites created in LaborWeb. At the same time, live websites must contain publicly available contact information. Many live AFSCME sites have not built their own "About Us" categories and currently contain no contact information beyond the "Contact Us" category.

Last updated 3/18/10

CONVENTION WORKSHOPS: Building WFSE's Online Community

The video on slides 4 and 8 can be watched at WFSE's YouTube Channel here - look for them in favorites.

CONVENTION WORKSHOPS: WFSE's Online Communications

The video on slide 13 can be watched at WFSE's YouTube Channel here - look for them in favorites.

REMINDER: Important message about "Contact Us"

As you know, the LaborWeb setup tool currently requires that we enter a mailing address, phone number and e-mail address for each of our locals. This information then automatically populates the “Contact Us” category of public LaborWeb sites and is viewable to all visitors.

This information was setup initially with your Field Office information as a default. You may have updated since - or elected to use the Field Office contact information.

However, many AFSCME local unions in other Councils do not have office addresses or phone numbers. Members understandably do not want their home addresses or phone numbers listed publicly on these websites.

AFSCME International Union is working with the AFL-CIO to create a solution to this problem. It will likely lead to the complete removal of the automatically-populated “Contact Us’ category from sites created in LaborWeb. THE DEADLINE IS 9/30/09.

To prepare for this, and as a best practice, we encourage all affiliates and local unions to create an “About Local xxx” category now. In this category, place content related to these topics (at least):

1. Basic background information: a description of your union and who it represents.
2. Contact Us Data: include at least one way that a web visitor can contact a person in your union. Use the WebMail e-mail address assigned to your LaborWeb account, or some other official email created for your local. Avoid using personal accounts.Include public mailing address and phone number whenever possible. Include directions or other related information if available. TIP: use google maps to create directions to your local meetings and link it back to your "About Local xxx" page.
3. Union Leadership: include elected leaders and field office information.
4. Optional items: steward roster, local constitution.

Here are links to sites with sample “About Us” categories for your consideration:

• Local 491 has a comprehensive example here.
• Local 931 also has a good example here.

We plan to turn off the automated "Contact Us" category off on 9/30/09.

As always, if you need help, just ask.

Convention booth to display local LaborWeb sites

We’ll be showcasing LaborWeb at WFSE’s Convention in SeaTac in October. The booth will give us an opportunity to show off our Local LaborWeb sites, and create a greater awareness of this powerful tool.

Make sure your local is looking good. We have one WebEx training remaining before Convention: September 24 at 7:00 PM. Register to attend online trainings at WFSE.org > LaborWeb > LaborWeb Training.

We are also available for one-on-one trainings – either at WFSE HQ or by teleconference. Call (800-562-6002) or email me here for more information.

We’re here to help. LR

NOTE: LaborWeb training will not be conducted at Convention. Communication workshops are underdevelopment, but here's a preview:

1. One is "WFSE Communications: Getting Connected" - focus on the union's online resources (WFSE.org, LaborWeb, Facebook Fan Page, YouTube, and new Baraining Unit Blogs. 45 minutes
2. The second workshop is "Let's Cybertalk: Blogging 101" - focus on how members can use and comment on blogs, effectively and with confidence. 45 minutes
   

Consolidating Blog Categories -

The individual categories for the Hotline blog, President blog, LPA blog and Bargaining Unit blogs are just way too much - even for me! :)

We tried posting the blogs as separate categories with the full text of each article viewable on the page.

But the article headlines didn't really stand out, muddling the start and end of each article, and we weren't very happy with it. And the addition of multiple categories doesn't really mesh with our effort to keep LaborWeb a local-driven medium.

So, here's what we did to consolidate the information:

• Under Federation News & Blogs: Federation Hotline blog (6 headlines); Council President blog (6 headlines) and LPA Political blog (6 headlines).
• Under Bargaining Unit Blogs: Corrections Bargaining Unit blog (3 headlines); Ecology Bargaining Unit blog (3 headlines). This category name will expand (Policy Committee & Bargaining Unit blogs) when/if Policy Committee blogs are added.

There were also some "left over" articles, which I placed in recent news. This is functionally an archive for articles that have a long shelf life.

Let us know what you think about the addition of the blogs and the organization that we're now using.

Bargaining Unit Blogs & Council President Blogs

Live today are two new categories: Bargaining Unit Blogs and Council President Blog.

Corrections BU and Ecology BU are our first two Bargaining Unit Blogs. Locals that are a single BU, like some HE Institutions and Parks may not be interested in this information, but you can't suppress a "category." So, if you'd like to remove this category, go to ARTICLES > SET ARTICLE ORDER. Click on the "suppress" box of each article, and save. This will remove the category from your homepage.

Blogs are the way we plan to move information to groups of members that cross multiple Locals.

To date, we have syndicated the Federation Hotline, Legislation & Politics, Council President, and now, Bargaining Units (Corrections, Ecology).

The only other category we plan to add in the future is one for Policy Committees, giving them a vehicle to report directly to members.

I'm not sure if it's better to feed those articles in as links back to the blog (article titles only); or to feed in the full story. I changed them today from links to full feeds.

Take a look at these syndicated categories (HOTLINE, Leg & Politics, and President) and let me know what you think.